Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Lan Jian looked even more puzzled than him: "Your apprentice?"

Xu Lingguang was still not quite sure, and hesitantly said, "Ah: It might be my eldest disciple, but my eldest disciple's original form was just an ordinary black snake."

Lan Jian fell into deep thought: "It is said that the previous demon king of the demon race was in love with a human woman. However, the demon race and the human race were at odds at the time. The previous demon king not only married the human woman, but also wanted the child born to that human woman to succeed to the throne."

"The previous demon king's decision aroused dissatisfaction among many powerful demons within the kingdom. These powerful demons secretly united and launched a coup while the demon king was off guard. The demon king was injured in the battle with the human race and had to take care of his wife and children, so he was at a disadvantage. But the demon king was not a pushover. Knowing that he could not escape death, he secretly sent his wife and children away before he died, and then took a few powerful demons with him, so that they would perish together."

"The demon race suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and its vitality was severely damaged. It has not yet fully recovered to this day. I heard that no great demon with pure bloodline has appeared in the demon race since then, and it is powerless to start another war. So it can only retreat to Wujian City to recuperate, which is why there has been more than ten years of peace in the human world."

When Lan Jian went out to travel in the past, he also heard that the former demon king's old subordinates had risen up again and were trying to find the child of the demon king and that human woman.

Judging from this, the age of the little snake in front of us does match.

People only know that a hui transforms into a jiao after five hundred years, a jiao transforms into a dragon after a thousand years, a jiao becomes a horned dragon after another five hundred years, and an yinglong after a thousand years. But they don't know that a newly born hui is actually no different from a snake.

The Hui are a race born from the mating of the Yinglong and the snake clans. When Hui are born, they have snake blood in their veins, but when they grow to a certain age, the Yinglong blood in their veins awakens, and they will randomly exhibit atavism.

After reversion to their ancestral form, the hidden Yinglong bloodline within the hui will be gradually activated. However, at the same time, the consciousness of the young hui will be sealed. They must grow again and successfully pass through a tribulation of lightning in order to pass the test of the ancient bloodline and become true hui.

Only the reverted hui are true hui, and they have the potential to fully awaken the Yinglong bloodline and eventually transform into Yinglong.

The demon race is currently facing a shortage of young talent, which explains why they want to find this young snake to take back.

Lan Jian frowned slightly and concluded: "This is troublesome; it's not suitable for them to stay in Ailao Mountain."

Xu Lingguang hadn't even processed the gossip about the Demon King when he saw him looking like he was about to get rid of the trouble in front of him, so he quickly said, "But he's injured." He said ingratiatingly, under Lan Jian's ambiguous gaze, "If he really is my disciple, can we leave after he recovers?"

Fearing that Lan Jian would disagree, he quickly squatted down and patted the huge beast head: "Song Nanchu? Song Nanchu, is that you? If it is, say something."

Song Nanchu still retained his consciousness. He had barely survived the nine tribulations of lightning and was exhausted. He didn't even have the strength to move. In his current state, an ordinary mortal could easily take his life.

If he hadn't lost his memory, he would never have chosen to undergo his tribulation in the Ailao Mountains, right under Xu Lingguang's nose.

But unfortunately, his ancestral nature led to the sealing of his mind, so he could only rely on instinct to choose a place that he felt was safe.

He opened his eyes listlessly and saw Xu Lingguang's enlarged face close to his. Xu Lingguang frowned, looking anxious, and reached out to check his breath, muttering, "He's not dead, is he?"

"Song Nanchu?"

Song Nanchu's ears hurt from the noise, but he couldn't move, so he could only manage to call out, "Master."

After calling out, he paused for a moment. It had been a long time since he had called Xu Lingguang that properly. He had either been disobedient or sarcastic, but never in such a dependent and weak tone.

Xu Lingguang was also taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered, smiled and said "Hey," then turned to Lan Jian and said, "This really is my apprentice. Once his injuries heal, can I let him leave as soon as possible?"

Lan Jian never liked to meddle in other people's troubles, but looking at Xu Lingguang's pleading eyes, he didn't know why he couldn't bring himself to say the refusal: "Whatever, if he causes any trouble, you'll be responsible."

Xu Lingguang said "Hey," and seeing him leave without looking back, he quickly waved goodbye to him.

After everyone left, Xu Lingguang looked at the enormous thing in front of him with a headache: "Can you move?"

Song Nan didn't react, staring at him with his huge vertical pupils.

Xu Lingguang sighed: "If you can't move, just blink."

Song Nan blinked.

Xu Lingguang asked again, "Can you shrink? You're so big, I can't carry you."

Song Nan blinked again.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

He circled around twice, then helplessly spread his hands: "There's nothing I can do. You can lie here for now, and I'll think of something else."

This time, Song Nan didn't blink and just stared at him quietly.

Xu Lingguang thought he was afraid of being abandoned, so after thinking for a moment, he patted the little horn on his head reassuringly and explained, "Don't worry, I won't abandon you. I'll go find some pills that can help you recover. You've taken so many Spirit Nourishing Pills before, are you going to take any more now?"

"Blink if you want it."

Song Nan didn't blink. Xu Lingguang frowned and muttered, "So that means you don't want it? Then what else can we eat?"

He muttered to himself for a while, calmed Song Nanchu down, and then slowly walked down the mountain, leaning on two wooden sticks.

It had just rained heavily, and although the mountain wasn't steep, the ground was slippery and difficult to walk on. He walked very carefully, but even so, Song Nanchu still saw him stumble a few steps and almost fall into the mud. However, he had good balance and managed to brace himself with a wooden stick at the last moment, managing not to get covered in mud. After regaining his footing, he continued downhill, cursing all the while.

Song Nanchu quietly watched his retreating figure, suddenly feeling a pang of regret. If only the young man before him had been the one who brought him back to the Qingyu Sect back then.

*

Xu Lingguang returned home and found that Lan Jian hadn't left; he was talking to the cubs in the yard.

Upon seeing him return, the enormous Chenghuang turned its head and glanced at him, saying, "I suddenly remembered that I forgot to tell you. He just went through a tribulation of lightning and his body is in a period of extreme weakness. He needs a lot of spiritual energy to replenish his body as soon as possible. Hui is a branch of the dragon race. As long as there is enough spiritual energy, their body repair ability is very strong."

Xu Lingguang was initially delighted, but then became worried: "But how do I replenish his spiritual energy?"

Lan Jian glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Didn't you accumulate quite a few spirit stones? I can teach you how to draw a spirit-gathering array. You just need to put the spirit stones into the array to generate a continuous flow of spiritual energy."

Xu Lingguang: "..."

His first thought was whether he should just give up learning it.

But when he turned his head and saw Song Nanchu lying half-dead on the distant hilltop, he couldn't help but sigh; it was a matter of life and death.

He suppressed his heartache and said, "Okay, thank you for your trouble."

Lan Jian observed the expression on his face. His entire face was scrunched up, his expression was exceptionally vivid, and the corners of his mouth curved even wider. It was worth the special trip he had made.

The Spirit Gathering Array is very simple; you just need to draw simple array runes around Song Nanchu.

The difficulty lies in the fact that this formation requires a large amount of spirit stones. Xu Lingguang's hands were trembling as he took out spirit stones. After setting up one circle of the formation, half of his wealth was gone. His eyes reddened with heartache. He looked at Song Nan and said with resentment, "I have spent a lot of money to save you."

Song Nan's pupils reflected his image, and she blinked quietly.

Xu Lingguang sighed and activated the formation. "Take good care of yourself and let me know if you need anything. I'll come over every morning and evening from now on. Once you can shrink back to your original size, I'll take you back."

Song Nanchu continued blinking.

Xu Lingguang patted his head like he was coaxing a child, then sadly carried the empty storage bag down the mountain.